Oral health status and associated factors among 12 to 15-year-old Chinese adolescents in Southeast China: A cross-sectional study.

This study assessed oral health conditions and associated factors (including sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported oral health-related behaviors) among Chinese adolescents. This cross-sectional study enrolled 3840 adolescents aged 12 to 15 years from 12 middle schools in Foshan, Southeast China, in 2016, using multistage, stratified cluster sampling. Participants underwent a clinical oral examination and completed a questionnaire. The prevalence of dental caries, probe bleeding, and calculus was 37.6%, 46.2%, and 39.7%, respectively; the mean decayed/missed/filled teeth index was 0.86 ±â€…1.58. A mean of 2.09 ±â€…3.65 and 1.85 ±â€…3.52 teeth showed probe bleeding and calculus, respectively. Only 0.3% and 0.1% of adolescents aged 15 years had periodontal pockets (depth ≥ 4 mm) and attachment loss, respectively, which were most common in tooth positions 46 and 36 (Federation Dentaire International 2-digit system). Regarding oral health-related behavior, 49.1% of the participants failed to brush their teeth at least twice daily, 98.5% never or rarely used dental floss, and 58.7% reported middle-high frequency sugar consumption. Older age, female, administrative region, maternal education lower than university, brushing teeth less than twice daily, flossing less than once daily, and frequent sugar consumption were significant risk factors of caries. Older age, female, administrative region, brushing less than twice daily, and flossing less than once daily significantly increased periodontal risk. Despite the overall low prevalence of adverse dental conditions among adolescents in Foshan, their oral hygiene habits were undeveloped. Thus, their identified risk factors need close monitoring, and families, schools, communities, and the government should jointly promote adolescents' oral health.

Oral health-related quality of life and associated factors of Chinese adolescents in Foshan City / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate oral health related quality of life and associated factors of adolescents between 12 and 15 years old, and to provide countermeasures and suggestions for oral health promotion of adolescents.@*Methods@#This cross-sectional study recruited 3 840 adolescents aged 12-15 through multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method. The oral clinical examination and oral health questionnaire were conducted. Descriptive analysis, non-parametric testing and logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the oral health-related quality of life and associated factors.@*Results@#Oral problems showed moderate to severe impact on quality of life,especially on eating (27.1%). Ordinal Logistic regression analysis showed that low sugar intake frequency, few teeth with gingival bleeding, no history of dental pain in the past 12 months,no history of tooth injuries, and administrative region of residence (Nanhai, Shunde) were associated with higher oral health-related quality of life,(OR=0.6-0.8，P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#The oral health-related quality of life of adolescents in Foshan was slightly better than the average national level. It is recommended to accurately formulate and ensure the full implementation of oral public health measures based on the comprehensive analysis of the local area, and combine various efforts to strengthen education on reducing excessive intake of sugar, prevent gingival bleeding, relieve and treat toothache in time, pay attention to adolescents with histories of dental trauma, and update the concepts of receiving oral health examination for the adolescents themselves, parents and teachers, and help adolescents develop the habit of regular oral examinations.